quête:dreams

Perpignan Burning: the Southern French capital of garage rock in search of the riff. Or as Lou Reed would put it: "You can"t beat two guitars, bass, and drums." Content: 27 previously unreleased tracks on the double LP and six digital-only bonus tracks. All tracks on this compilation were recorded in or around Perpignan, France, and go to the musical extremes of an extreme city. Whether garage punks or freakbeat mods, country punks or city rockers, whether pioneers or new to the scene: the only thing that counts is the riff. Pascal Comelade, infamous riff explorer since the 1970s, is the unlikely godfather of this bunch of punks and rockers. He opens the trip with his emblematic cover design and closes it with his own Riffifi orchestra to the ultimate riff of The Stooges" "I Wanna Be Your Dog".

For the past two decades, Dr Roman Belavkin (Solar X) has been deeply involved in AI research and mathematics at British universities. His albums from the 1990s are a testament to an era defined by the early internet-bulletin boards, FTP sites and mailing lists. In keeping with this, Solar X's music sounds surprisingly futuristic, a romantic artifact of a time eagerly anticipating tomorrow.

Following the re-issue of Solar-X's "Xrated" in 2019, GALAXIID is releasing his debut "Outre X Mer". All tracks are from the original DAT tapes and have been remastered for this release. "Pozdno Utrom", "Dileg" and "Solar X" were originally released on the "Outre X Mer EP" on Defective Records in 1995. Other tracks are out on vinyl and digital platforms for the first time.

"I was homebound for two years between 1992 and 1994, and the only way I could escape was through computer networks and writing," Belavkin recalls. Before the nasty car accident he was a member of the USSR/Russia national wushu team. Confined to his home, Belavkin started creating tracks based on ideas from his school days in the late 1980s, when he first recorded melodies on cassette tapes. This time, however, he fused those sounds with Soviet analogue synthesizers and PC sound cards. He shared these tracks via email with friends in different countries, becoming part of the "Analogue Heaven" mailing list, a community of enthusiasts united by their passion for analogue synthesis dating back to the 1960s.

During his initial pursuit of a PhD in Computer Science, Roman wanted to explore the intersection of what electronic music could offer humanity, the potential for AI to experience emotions, and whether emotions enhance or hinder intellect. These themes resonate in the music of Solar X. The album embodies ambient techno with intricate rhythms and ear caressing melodies, choppy percussion and blissful synths, making it both tranquil and danceable. Like a shimmering spaceship navigating between anxious dreams and visions, it transports the listener to a naively hopeful era yet to come.

MICHELLE’s first project of buoyant R&B tracks was an ode to New York City, the city where all 6 members of the band grew up. But amid the success of that project, 2018’s HEATWAVE, and 2022’s AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS, they left home and broadened their perspective. The band travelled across the U.S. and Europe opening for Gus Dapperton, Arlo Parks, and Mitski, headlining their own shows, and playing festivals.

While writing their new album, Songs About You Specifically, MICHELLE decided to rent out a house in Ojai, California. Surrounded by lizards, the smell of ripe cactus fruit, and endless expanses of sand, they experienced a sense of solitude and closeness they hadn’t before. It shifted the tone of their work. While their earlier music channelled the churning restlessness of the city, these news songs meander and expand into starry shoegaze reveries, slick funk riffs, and lilting 80s synth pop.

Their newfound closeness also helped them write more vulnerable music. On Songs About You Specifically, the band members express their complicated desires, voice their regrets, and own up to their moments of selfishness. By slowing down, cutting out any distractions, and fostering a sense of communal closeness that necessitated honesty, MICHELLE ended up with a collection of songs that feel like the truth.

FFF’s music exemplifies the Dystopian Dreamstates vibe through its ability to evoke exploration of futuristic and alienated themes, and creation of surreal sonic landscapes. His work resonates with listeners seeking music that challenges traditional structures and transports them into haunting, introspective realms. This EP evokes a complex blend of haunting dystopian elements with the surreal, shifting qualities of dream states. Such music creates an auditory landscape that can be both unsettling and hypnotic, often exploring themes of alienation, technology, and subconscious experiences.

Strange Sensations is a new EP from Paul Renegade.
In between Lazerdrome / Phonomena releases (news on that soon) and with a folder full of spare tunes, this 4 track EP comes on white vinyl on sister label DragonDrop Records
This release features a mix of happy pianos, dark synths, ruff beats and Jungle Tekno vibes, all at various BPMs so there’s a bit of something for everybody.
On the A-side, Zer0 Gravity Fire is fast-paced ’94-style stompy hardcore (160BPM) with rushy pianos, while the synths and piano lines of Mind Over Mind slow the pace down a bit at 140BPM in an early ‘92 style.
On the flip side, Weird Dreams (160BPM) takes you between the worlds of happy and the darkside and Danger: Battledroid is an experimental dark hardcore track at 165BPM, mixing well in either a hardcore or jungle set.

Created by the dynamic duo of DAVE MAZE and Grammy-nominated SPIKE REBEL, this album is a one-of-a-kind fusion of funk, disco, afro, and soul, all wrapped in the mesmerizing art of spoken word. “WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE” is a spoken word tribute album to the talented JERWAYNE BALENTINE, also known as J-EPIC. JERWAYNE, who authored the book "WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE," was a remarkable poet, author, producer, and illustrator. Tragically, he passed away in 2020 at the age of 23 due to Muscular dystrophy. All proceeds from the sales of this album will be directed towards funding music programming for young adults with developmental impairments and supporting Muscular dystrophy research.

RAWAX welcomes Rupert Hartick to the artist family!
We are very happy to present you this very talented Producer and DJ on our 24th edition of the RAWAX S-series. Rupert delivered here warm, trippy & soulful release which will see the light in Spring!
Highly recommended release from KONFUS Records- boss!

a A1. SECOND HAND NEWS* 4:05
b A2. THE CHAIN [6:33]
[c] A3. DON'T STOP** [3:52]
[d] A4. DREAMS** [4:13]
[e] B1. OH WELL** [3:34]
[f] B2. RHIANNON [8:02]
[g] B3. BROWN EYES* [4:21]
[h] B4. EYES OF THE WORLD [4:10]
[i] C1. GYPSY [4:32]
[j] C2. LOVE IN STORE [3:19]
[k] C3. NOT THAT FUNNY [9:06]
[l] D1. NEVER GOING BACK AGAIN** [4:25]
[m] D2. LANDSLIDE** [4:13]
[n] D3. TUSK [5:57]
[o] E1. SARA** [6:12]
[p] E2. HOLD ME* [4:14]
[q] E3. YOU MAKE LOVING FUN [4:43]
[r] E4. I'M SO AFRAID [6:29]
[s] F1. GO YOUR OWN WAY [6:28]
[t] F2. BLUE LETTER [4:43]
[u] F3. SISTERS OF THE MOON [8:03]
[v] F4. SONGBIRD [3:33]

[a] A1. SECOND HAND NEWS* [4:05]
[b] A2. THE CHAIN [6:33]
[c] A3. DON'T STOP** [3:52]
[d] A4. DREAMS** [4:13]
[e] B1. OH WELL** [3:34]
[f] B2. RHIANNON [8:02]
[g] B3. BROWN EYES* [4:21]
[h] B4. EYES OF THE WORLD [4:10]
[i] C1. GYPSY [4:32]
[j] C2. LOVE IN STORE [3:19]
[k] C3. NOT THAT FUNNY [9:06]
[l] D1. NEVER GOING BACK AGAIN** [4:25]
[m] D2. LANDSLIDE** [4:13]
[n] D3. TUSK [5:57]
[o] E1. SARA** [6:12]
[p] E2. HOLD ME* [4:14]
[q] E3. YOU MAKE LOVING FUN [4:43]
[r] E4. I'M SO AFRAID [6:29]
[s] F1. GO YOUR OWN WAY [6:28]
[t] F2. BLUE LETTER [4:43]
[u] F3. SISTERS OF THE MOON [8:03]
[3:33]

[a] A1. SECOND HAND NEWS* [4:05]
[b] A2. THE CHAIN [6:33]
[c] A3. DON'T STOP** [3:52]
[d] A4. DREAMS** [4:13]
[e] B1. OH WELL** [3:34]
[f] B2. RHIANNON [8:02]
[g] B3. BROWN EYES* [4:21]
[h] B4. EYES OF THE WORLD [4:10]
[i] C1. GYPSY [4:32]
[j] C2. LOVE IN STORE [3:19]
[k] C3. NOT THAT FUNNY [9:06]
[l] D1. NEVER GOING BACK AGAIN** [4:25]
[m] D2. LANDSLIDE** [4:13]
[n] D3. TUSK [5:57]
[o] E1. SARA** [6:12]
[p] E2. HOLD ME* [4:14]
[q] E3. YOU MAKE LOVING FUN [4:43]
[r] E4. I'M SO AFRAID [6:29]
[s] F1. GO YOUR OWN WAY [6:28]
[t] F2. BLUE LETTER [4:43]
[u] F3. SISTERS OF THE MOON [8:03]
[3:33]

a A1. SECOND HAND NEWS* 4:05
[b] A2. THE CHAIN [6:33]
[c] A3. DON'T STOP** [3:52]
[d] A4. DREAMS** [4:13]
[e] B1. OH WELL** [3:34]
[f] B2. RHIANNON [8:02]
[g] B3. BROWN EYES* [4:21]
[h] B4. EYES OF THE WORLD [4:10]
[i] C1. GYPSY [4:32]
[j] C2. LOVE IN STORE [3:19]
[k] C3. NOT THAT FUNNY [9:06]
[l] D1. NEVER GOING BACK AGAIN** [4:25]
[m] D2. LANDSLIDE** [4:13]
[n] D3. TUSK [5:57]
[o] E1. SARA** [6:12]
[p] E2. HOLD ME* [4:14]
[q] E3. YOU MAKE LOVING FUN [4:43]
[r] E4. I'M SO AFRAID [6:29]
[s] F1. GO YOUR OWN WAY [6:28]
[t] F2. BLUE LETTER [4:43]
[u] F3. SISTERS OF THE MOON [8:03]
[v] F4. SONGBIRD [3:33]

[a] A1. SECOND HAND NEWS* [4:05]
[b] A2. THE CHAIN [6:33]
[c] A3. DON'T STOP** [3:52]
[d] A4. DREAMS** [4:13]
[e] B1. OH WELL** [3:34]
[f] B2. RHIANNON [8:02]
[g] B3. BROWN EYES* [4:21]
[h] B4. EYES OF THE WORLD [4:10]
[i] C1. GYPSY [4:32]
[j] C2. LOVE IN STORE [3:19]
[k] C3. NOT THAT FUNNY [9:06]
[l] D1. NEVER GOING BACK AGAIN** [4:25]
[m] D2. LANDSLIDE** [4:13]
[n] D3. TUSK [5:57]
[o] E1. SARA** [6:12]
[p] E2. HOLD ME* [4:14]
[q] E3. YOU MAKE LOVING FUN [4:43]
[r] E4. I'M SO AFRAID [6:29]
[s] F1. GO YOUR OWN WAY [6:28]
[t] F2. BLUE LETTER [4:43]
[u] F3. SISTERS OF THE MOON [8:03]
[3:33]

Born in Aldershot on 11 September 1947, Catley's family moved to the Tile Cross area of Birmingham when he was young. He went on to attend the nearby Central Grammar School for Boys (Birmingham) and left to start an apprenticeship at the GPO before deciding on a musical career shortly after meeting similarly minded individuals at college. Whilst at college he joined several bands, such as The Smokestacks (Jeff Clark-guitar, Ron Savage-guitar, Derek Danks-bass & Brian Worrell-drums, Life and Clearwater). His first professional band was when he joined local outfit The Capitol Systems. The initial line-up was Bob Catley (vocals) Paul Sargent (guitar) Paul Whitehouse (bass), Dave Bailey (keyboards) and Bob Moore (drums). Shortly afterward they changed their name to Paradox, inspired by a science-fiction novel. A one-off deal was arranged with Mercury after Paradox had come to the attention of Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt. The tracks were "Ever Since I Can Remember", backed with "Goodbye Mary". In addition, they recorded "Mary Colinto" and "Somebody Save Me". All of these songs were written by Dave Morgan. Paradox played festivals in the Netherlands and Italy before splitting up upon their return to the UK in 1970. Formed in 1972, Magnum throughout the next 16 years consisted mainly of Bob Catley on vocals and Tony Clarkin on guitar. Magnum began as the house band at Birmingham's famous Rum Runner night club (later the home of Duran Duran). They began to develop their own style by playing Clarkin's songs at a residency at The Railway Inn, in Birmingham's Curzon Street, in 1976. Joining Clarkin and Catley were drummer Kex Gorin and bassist Dave Morgan (later a member of ELO). Their most notable success during these early years was the Jeff Glixman produced Chase The Dragon (1982) which reached No. 17 in the UK, and included several songs that would be mainstays of the band's live set, notably ‘Soldier of the Line’, ‘Sacred Hour’ and ‘The Spirit’. Their breakthrough album came in 1985 with On a Storyteller's Night which featured the single ‘Just Like an Arrow’. This success continued in the following years with the Roger Taylor (Queen) produced Vigilante in 1986, the top 5 album Wings of Heaven in 1988, and the Keith Olsen produced Goodnight L.A. reaching No. 9 in the UK album charts in 1990. Subsequently, Clarkin decided to maintain a tighter control, and after their initial mainstream success, the band lost their major label backing and returned to a more personal level of production. This finally found the band splitting and the formation of Hard Rain in 1995, which saw Clarkin pursue a more Pop orientated direction with a band that included Sue McCloskey on lead vocals. This new direction didn’t sit well with Catley, and after a headline performance at The Gods in the late 90s, a conversation with Bruce Mee of Now & Then Records saw Catley agree with a decision which eventually led to his debut solo album, ‘The Tower’. This release was completely written by Gary Hughes of Ten, with the writing completely decided to be in the vein of classic Magnum. The album itself was recorded by various members of Ten, including the amazing Vinny Burns (Dare) on guitar. On release, the many positive reviews concluded that the release of ‘The Tower’ had succeeded beyond its wildest imagination…..and Bob Catley’s solo career had been launched with amazing success!! With a lyrical intricacy and majestic pomp, songs like ‘Far Away, ‘Fear of the Dark, ‘Madrigal’ and ‘Deep Winter’ take you back to that glorious period of Magnum between ‘Chase The Dragon’ and ‘Wings Of Heaven’ whilst hard melodic rockers such as ‘Scream’, ‘Dreams’ and title track ‘The Tower’ show just what Magnum would have sounded like if they’d gone a little bit harder. Another absolutely brilliant album that totally deserves to be filed alongside those mid-period Magnum classics.

Following on from his 2022 debut release on American Dreams Records, 'Choreographies of Decay', J. Doursou offers a critical reflection in 'The Deafening Veil' of the West's warped relationship with war in other regions.

The Deafening Veil has early support with reviews confirmed with MOJO Magazine, Headphone Commute (single premiere), A Closer Listen, and Noise Narrative. A writer from Quietus is also pitching to editorial with a review TBC. Doursou began the creative process of the album when Russia invaded Ukraine. The album's lead single, 'song for Elena', is a tribute to Doursou's close friend from Ukraine. The rest of the album critiques the silence that surrounds war in other regions.

Son Goku is back to face a new threat that is descending upon Earth. Synopsis: Goku goes to train with Master Kaio, who informs him that a powerful enemy has awakened from a 39-year slumber: Beerus, God of Destruction. Beerus is searching for a warrior who appeared to him in a dream, the Super Saiyan God, whom he wishes to challenge. The vinyl includes numerous BGM from the Future Trunks and Universe Survival arcs. They range from dark to epic in a very orchestral style with the legendary Norihito Sumitomo composing (DBZ: Battle of Gods, the film, as well as video games like Gran Turismo). Some BGMs were created by Kazuya Yoshii and Takafumi Iwasaki, the latter having worked on musical projects for spin-offs of Digimon and Konosuba.

Ever-evolving the mythologies and magic of Dialect's sonic sphere, Andrew PM Hunt returns with Atlas of Green, elegantly molding unexacting details of memory and mistranslation into the framework of the British musician and composer's creative pursuit. The album imagines a young musician named Green working in a future dawning era where lost signals and enduring impulses are unearthed from the sediments of technology and time. Across twelve compositions, Green becomes the compass in an epoch of transition; one shaded with pastoral patinas and studded with the fragments of allegorical ruin. As tattered as it is tender, Atlas of Green is a patchwork of scavenged relics and bygone hues, cast through the iridescent shimmers of a mid-future in flux. Growing up on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England, Hunt was surrounded by stone age landmarks and rock carvings that infused the landscape with legend. It was beside those carvings on a residency at Bidston Artistic Research Center where he began the journey of Atlas of Green, experimenting with tape loops and exploring the center's library of sci-fi. Here Hunt also encountered the work of Italian philosopher Federico Campagna, a writer who believes we're at the end of our current world. This encouraged Hunt's exploration of how the fabric and fantasies of our current era might endure into the future of Green, as they try to make sense of the riddles of the past, utilizing broken electronics and simple acoustic instruments to create new mythic forms. This question of endurance led Hunt to inscribe Atlas of Green with its own lucid markings - sometimes almost anthemic adornments - which unfurl through the album's melancholic air as possible new metaphors for how the human spirit might persist through dark days and regain lost wisdom. As Hunt reflects, "We're not just on an endless procession through constantly better worlds. Our lack of action (on climate and inequality) feels hopeless at times. I find some comfort in the idea that maybe the world needs a new song in order to tell a new story about itself". The image of Green as a journeying adolescent in-between eras developed out of a burgeoning interest in the fantasy writing of Ursula K. Le Guin and Gene Wolfe and occurred at a point in Hunt's life where the question of starting a family was looming. Green became a device for thinking about the future, or futures, putting someone in another world and granting access to a slightly longer timeframe than one's own life. What would this person, in this as-yet-unsung world do with something as powerful as music? As Hunt notes, "I imagined them doing what we've always done with music - using it to build a map of feeling, providing boundaries and tracing the edges of our emotions, defining a space of possibility and giving voice to our intuition. This is an alternative future to the one of endless growth but one which still holds space for hopes and dreams." Mapping new folds in the passage of time, Atlas of Green is traced with an aura of sonic urgency which arises through its process-led construction. Following a series of live shows in early 2023, the record was created with an assemblage of analogue electronics and acoustic instruments, including scratched records and a broken four track, collaging studio work with recorded live recordings featuring work in progress. Where the indeterminate energies of Under~Between (2021) appeared through digital processing, Atlas of Green embraces chance encounters within the malfunctions of physical media and glitching gear. Within these interwoven clusters of organic and blemished sound, Dialect reclaims the joyfulness of the inner amateur and creates a soft landing for new seeds of magical possibility - rooted in the bounds and abundance of realism. "As a planet of people we have to deal one way or another with our finite existence. We have to deal with that loss with hope still in our hearts - our capacity to love cannot be contingent on things lasting forever, and so this image of Green is not a vision of dystopia, nor utopia but an expression of trust and an acceptance of limits."

The concept for and palette of Crystal Dorval aka White Poppy’s ‘Paradise Gardens’ trilogy first germinated in 2016 as a notion of “paradise music” combining new age, bedroom shoegaze, and bossa nova into “transcendental Tropicalia.” As she filled tapes of recordings exploring the idea, many of the songs gradually gravitated towards the hermetic dream pop her project is best known for, becoming the albums Paradise Gardens (2020) and Sound Of Blue (2023). Dorval describes these collections as a sort of “emotional purging or shadow work,” before arriving at “the state of inner paradise:” Ataraxia.

As the third, final, and most purist realisation of the original ‘Paradise Gardens’ vision, Ataraxia delivers. Nine instrumentals of nimble guitar, elevated bass, clean rhythm, and clear light, gliding like swans on a shimmering pond. There’s a sense throughout of playful tranquillity, of serenades at sunset, of kisses of blissful Muzak wafting along a boardwalk.

But behind the music is a patience, grace, and levity born of Dorval’s personal journey with spiritual healing that paralleled the trilogy. A process of transmuting pain into beauty, day by day, melody by melody, cleaving the darkness from the soul and re-entering one’s rightful home in the Garden.

Night Prayer is the 2018 studio album by Belgian Flemish artist Jasper Steverlinck, who is also known as the guitarist of rock band Arid. After releasing his debut solo album Songs Of Innocence in 2004, Steverlinck got where he needed to be with Night Prayer. At the essence. No sumptuously packed arrangements. No technological gadgets or needless fuss. Not a single fashionable beat left or right. On Night Prayer, it’s all about songwriting in its purest form. No poetic metaphors, but straightforward lyrics and unapologetic emotions.

Together with producer Jean Blaute he recorded 14 stripped down songs, which he all sang in one take.

Night Prayer is available as a limited edition of 500 numbered copies on gold coloured vinyl and includes an insert with lyrics

For years, Benjamin Herman has formed a frighteningly tight trio with Ernst Glerum and Joost Patočka. Whether its compositions from Misha Mengelberg, jazz evergreens or original works, these are all interpreted with vision and “rollicking virtuosity’’ (Volkskrant). Erupting from Herman's creative spirit and the two worlds of Glerum (ICP Orchestra) and Patočka (Rita Reys), the formation’s work is always of the highest class.

The new album Trouble with the young and exceptionally talented singer/pianist Daniel von Piekartz adds a new chapter to their collaboration. Songs from Fats Waller, Henry Mancini and Sly Stone get a postmodern make-over that will inspire many concert-goers to willingly miss that last tram home. And naturally, the musical fireworks that we’ve come accustomed are still

Step into "Nye Sko," the new talismatic single from Sju, featuring stellar remixes by two of Norway's finest electronic aficionados - Olefonken and Oyvind Morken. This release not only delivers a leftfield disco dreamscape but also marks the inaugural release of the new Snorkel Records 12" single series.

Jade Hairpins waste no time fulfilling their second album's titular demand. From its harmony-drenched opening note to its baroque-anthemic conclusion, Get Me the Good Stuff is positively loaded with musical ideas, an absurdist buffet of sound and aesthetic that comes with one hell of a floorshow as the Hairpins stack those ideas higher and higher, almost daring them to crash to the floor. Instead, those elements - punksploitation, power pop, baggy, funk, and Italo disco are just some touchstones - are not only held aloft, they defy gravity and convention. These pyrotechnics are, in true Jade Hairpins fashion, something of a sleight of hand. While the music swaggers and gallops, Get Me the Good Stuff grapples with anxiety and self-doubt, obfuscating pain and alienation with sparkling wit and some straight-up ravers. Get Me the Good Stuff opens with one of those, "Let It Be Me," in which Jonah Falco shouts lyrics about being alone with one's shortcomings against guitars, synths, and harmonized vocals that are on the verge of closing in. The song is just over 90 seconds long, hitting with the gnarled-barb ferocity of punk and the gleeful insanity of theatrical art rock. It is, in other words, overwhelming. Or it would be if Jade Hairpins - Jonah Falco and Mike Haliechuk - weren't remarkably nimble in their ability to bring unity to sounds by placing them in competition against each other. When those sounds are adjacent, like the glam and disco that saturate "Drifting Superstition," the thrill of those universes colliding in the heat of an absolutely filthy clavichord line turns its lyrics, about the habit of solving personal problems by ignoring them, into a winner's anthem on the order of Bowie or Hot Chocolate. Get Me the Good Stuff arcs towards unequivocal joy as Falco, Jade Hairpins' primary lyricist, breaks these cycles and attempts to run away with his dreams. The arc is roughly analogous to how the album came to fruition. Four years removed from Harmony Avenue, an album of material that proved too strong to be contained within the narrative universe of Fucked Up's Dose Your Dreams, Jade Hairpins have gelled as a live act - with Tamsin M. Leach and Jack Goldstein centering them on stage - and planted their flag in the UK punk scene in which Falco has embedded himself. Working out new material live, Falco noticed that crowds were digging into his unfinished lyrics, and the album tightened around the anxieties of being in the spotlight, of being worthy of attention. At times, those songs are eager to please, like the album's title track in which a winking self-deprecation rubs up against the self-congratulatory bombast of Freddie Mercury, Falco simultaneously turning heads as a shooting star and a burning car. Elsewhere, as in "Better Here Than in Love," Jade Hairpins pitch themselves towards creating gorgeous soundscapes that exist nowhere else, channeling postpunk through the glimmering haze of '80s Japanese electronic music. Theatrical and personal, absurd and true-to-life, playful and serious, Get Me the Good Stuff is album of tremendous personal and artistic growth that signposts towards dozens of potential futures to come. It's not only worth the attention, it continuously rewards it.

Jade Hairpins waste no time fulfilling their second album's titular demand. From its harmony-drenched opening note to its baroque-anthemic conclusion, Get Me the Good Stuff is positively loaded with musical ideas, an absurdist buffet of sound and aesthetic that comes with one hell of a floorshow as the Hairpins stack those ideas higher and higher, almost daring them to crash to the floor. Instead, those elements_punksploitation, power pop, baggy, funk, and Italo disco are just some touchstones_are not only held aloft, they defy gravity and convention. These pyrotechnics are, in true Jade Hairpins fashion, something of a sleight of hand. While the music swaggers and gallops, Get Me the Good Stuff grapples with anxiety and self-doubt, obfuscating pain and alienation with sparkling wit and some straight-up ravers. Get Me the Good Stuff opens with one of those, "Let It Be Me," in which Jonah Falco shouts lyrics about being alone with one's shortcomings against guitars, synths, and harmonized vocals that are on the verge of closing in. The song is just over 90 seconds long, hitting with the gnarled-barb ferocity of punk and the gleeful insanity of theatrical art rock. It is, in other words, overwhelming. Or it would be if Jade Hairpins_Jonah Falco and Mike Haliechuk_weren't remarkably nimble in their ability to bring unity to sounds by placing them in competition against each other. When those sounds are adjacent, like the glam and disco that saturate "Drifting Superstition," the thrill of those universes colliding in the heat of an absolutely filthy clavichord line turns its lyrics, about the habit of solving personal problems by ignoring them, into a winner's anthem on the order of Bowie or Hot Chocolate. Get Me the Good Stuff arcs towards unequivocal joy as Falco, Jade Hairpins' primary lyricist, breaks these cycles and attempts to run away with his dreams. The arc is roughly analogous to how the album came to fruition. Four years removed from Harmony Avenue, an album of material that proved too strong to be contained within the narrative universe of Fucked Up's Dose Your Dreams, Jade Hairpins have gelled as a live act_with Tamsin M. Leach and Jack Goldstein centering them on stage_and planted their flag in the UK punk scene in which Falco has embedded himself. Working out new material live, Falco noticed that crowds were digging into his unfinished lyrics, and the album tightened around the anxieties of being in the spotlight, of being worthy of attention. At times, those songs are eager to please, like the album's title track in which a winking self-deprecation rubs up against the self-congratulatory bombast of Freddie Mercury, Falco simultaneously turning heads as a shooting star and a burning car. Elsewhere, as in "Better Here Than in Love," Jade Hairpins pitch themselves towards creating gorgeous soundscapes that exist nowhere else, channeling postpunk through the glimmering haze of '80s Japanese electronic music. Theatrical and personal, absurd and true-to-life, playful and serious, Get Me the Good Stuff is album of tremendous personal and artistic growth that signposts towards dozens of potential futures to come. It's not only worth the attention, it continuously rewards it.